With help from suburban players, U.S. women’s volleyball team beats Brazil in semifinal thriller
Kelsey Robinson-Cook and Lauren Carlini will be playing for an Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball.
Extended by Brazil to a tiebreaker, Team USA on Thursday advanced with a 3-2 semifinal victory at South Paris Arena 1, 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 23-25 and 15-11.
The gold medal match, against the winner of Thursday's second semifinal between Turkey and Italy, is scheduled for 6 a.m. Central Time Sunday.
Be it gold or silver, Bartlett native and St. Francis High School graduate Robinson-Cook will earn her third Olympic medal in as many appearances.
The 6-foot-2 outside hitter helped Team USA win gold in Tokyo in 2021, and she earned a bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
West Aurora graduate Carlini, in her competitive Olympic debut after being a United States alternate for Tokyo, played a pivotal role in the tiebreaking fifth set.
Re-entering the match with Brazil ahead 4-3, the 6-foot-1 setter's defense helped the United States women tie the score 6-6 after a 36-second rally.
Her digs leading to successful attacks by Jordan Thompson and Avery Skinner gave Team USA an 8-7 lead. The United States did not trail again.
"(Carlini) plays all the defense, keeping this game alive for the United States," NBC analyst Salima Rockwell said.
Outside hitter Kathryn Plummer scored the match point, her 26th to lead all players, on a kill from the left side off a block attempt by Brazil's Ana Carolina da Silva.
Carlini, in during all five sets, was playing her second match after missing two group-play games with an injury. She finished with 8 digs and 5 assists.
Robinson-Cook, who played in three sets, recorded 2 digs and 2 successful receptions in 3 chances.
“It's kind of sad that either team has to lose a match like that," Kiraly said, "because both programs are legendary in terms of consistently high level of play in good tournaments like the Olympics and world championships."
As Brazil's fans waved flags, chanted and sang from every corner of South Paris Arena, the U.S. women edged their fellow world powerhouse in a five-set thriller on Thursday, a compelling rematch of their Tokyo final won in straight sets by the U.S.
That was the Americans' first Olympic title, and now they can make it two in a row.
The Brazilians haven’t won gold since the London Games 12 years ago.
Brazil led 5-3 and was 10 points from taking the first-to-15 fifth when the Americans rallied to tie it at 6 and momentarily went ahead on Jordan Thompson's spike.
“We just told ourselves to let it rip, have confidence, be fearless, it's a quick game to 15,” Plummer said. “That's what you have to do, you don't really have time to fix things or make adjustments very quickly, so it was just play the game you know how to play and go rip it.”
Both teams pulled off incredible saves close to the floor or even well out of bounds near their own benches to keep long points alive — and one fifth-set rally lasted more than 30 seconds.
The stands shook all afternoon with chants of “Bra-zil!” and “Monster Block!”
Brazil, ranked second in the world, two spots above the Americans, now has one last opportunity to reach the podium.
“They stuck with us all the way three years since the last Olympics. Everyone is just giving us so much energy. Definitely they're a part of this whole journey,” Brazil outside hitter Julia Bergmann said of the enormous support. “We're going to get a medal for them, too."
Many of these women have been battling it out under the lights of the big world stage for more than a decade now.
Brazil middle blocker Thaísa is 37, and she was the second-oldest on the court behind four-time U.S. Olympian Jordan Larson, who will be 38 in October.
“We fought. It was a really good fight. They played really well. It was five sets. I don’t even know what to say, it’s an emotional time for us now,” Bergmann said. “We have to refocus, regroup and go for the bronze.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.